The introduction of Easy Anti-Cheat to Helldivers 2 has been an incredibly unpopular one, with its Steam user reviews having fallen to Mostly Negative. In a new blog post, developer Arrowhead Game Studios has spoken about the decision behind adding Easy Anti-Cheat to the co-op shooter, and how it is taking player feedback into account.
One of the biggest criticisms behind the addition of the anti-cheat system is that it has blocked many PC players from being able to use their cosmetic fan-made game mods. The studio has said that, while mods are not officially supported, it has been looking at ways to allow cosmetic fan mods once again, as long as these mods don’t make any gameplay changes. The next hotfix will include the results of this labor.
As for gameplay mods, the studio has said that “these adjustments alter the game code or game memory in a way that can impact game stability for yourself and the others in your lobby, generating client crashes and unexpected match outcomes.” It also brought up the fact that, from a technical perspective, gameplay mods tend to be “indistinguishable from an attempt to cheat.” This means that anyone determined to be using gameplay mods might face a ban from Helldivers 2.
Arrowhead also discussed its plans to be more transparent with its Helldivers 2 roadmap going forward. Noting that the fact that its second roadmap was meant to imply a six-week cadence for updates didn’t exactly come through in the graphic created for the roadmap, the studio has said that it will present a clearer schedule going forward. At the same time, the team intends to preserve “the mystery of the Galactic War’s trajectory, its surprises, and its plot twists.”
The team commented on its decision to refer to the addition of a new biome slated for release last month, and brought up the fact that it essentially involved giving Game Masters a “new instrument” in “how they conduct the Galactic War and weave storylines.” However, it acknowledged that the phrasing itself set expectations that it didn’t meet, and apologized for the miscommunication.
“Your input matters and we’re sorry this roadmap wasn’t as accurate as it should have been, Helldivers. While we aren’t announcing a date for it in this article, our next roadmap will demonstrate the impact of your feedback.”
Moving ahead, Arrowhead has said that it has been actively working on addressing Hellpod steering behavior and Stratagem ball targeting and bouncing, and noted that it required “substantial adjustments to both mechanics”, which has ended up with the team needing more time to sort the issues out. While fixes for these won’t arrive in the next major update slated for December, the studio has said that players “should hopefully not have to wait that much longer to see these much-requested feature updates in action.”
Looking to the future, Arrowhead confirmed that the December update will bring in quite a few changes, like allowing Jump, Hoever, and Warp packs to be used while carrying two-handed weapons, allowing the Hellbomb backpack to be armed or picked up from the ground using long-press interact, gas clouds no longer slowing down players’ movement speed, the addition of a new utility belt that allows the player to carry small handheld items like remotes and detonators alongside their support weapon, new terminal puzzles, and the ability for SEAF to open bunkers.
Helldivers 2 is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
